A horde of old school German metalheads will crush us all with their debut EP, celebrating carnage and domination just the way we like it in classic Death Metal.
A horde of old school Death Metal heads who worship the brutal god of the rotten, Kassel, Hesse, Germany-based entity Reanimated was formed in the beginning of 2022 from the ruins of different old Death Metal cults to spread mischief and showcase their passion and devotion for extreme music. Currently formed of vocalist Mike (from Melodic Death/Black Metal horde Dark Horizon, who released in 2024 the excellent album Darkness Falls Upon Mankind), guitarists Alex and Jörg, bassist Benni, and drummer Andre, Reanimated are ready to attack armed with their debut offering, a five-track EP entitled Vomit The Plague, celebrating carnage and domination just the way we like it in classic Death Metal.
Just hit play and you’ll face a cinematic intro titled Rebirth, with the desperate screams by an unknown woman setting a horrific tone in Infant Decapitation, a brutal, no shenanigans Death Metal avalanche blasted by the band where Mike sounds ruthless as usual on vocals supported by the classic beats by Andre. The title-track Vomit The Plague is even more infuriated thanks to the harsh riffage by Alex and Jörg, while Benni and Andre craft a beyond heavy kitchen for our total delight; whereas The Extinction is the perfect follow-up to the title-track, with the sirens in its intro warning the listener of the absolute chaos and despair that’s about to come, evolving into a demonic feast of old school Death Metal led by the harsh guitar lines by Alex and Jörg. Finally, let’s slam into the pit to the pulverizing two and a half minutes found in Flesh Collector, where Andre shows no mercy for his drums nor for our necks.
The ruthless horde known as Reanimator is waiting for you on Facebook, on Instagram and on YouTube with news, tour dates, and more of their music, and of course in order to show them your total support and admiration you can grab a copy of Vomit The Plague from BandCamp, as well as stream it in full as many times as you want on Spotify. Now that Reanimated have finally left their obscure lair to spread evil across the world, I don’t think it will take too long for the band to unleash upon us their first ever full-length album, and if there’s one thing that can be said about that is that if they follow a similar pattern as the destructive music found in Vomit The Plague, it will be total chaos, violence and blood, always in the name of our beloved Death Metal.
Best moments of the album:Vomit The Plague and The Extinction.
Andy Marshall and his band of Caledonian warriors are back with an epic voyage set to rekindle the fires of heritage and resurrect the valor that courses through Scotland’s vast landscapes.
Out of the mists, where lore whispers in the winds, Glasgow, Scotland-based Atmospheric Folk/Black Metal act SAOR, pronounced “seur”, which means “free” and “unconstrained” in Scottish Gaelic, the heralds of Caledonia’s primeval beauty and ancient tales, rises once again to enrapture souls far and wide. Their newest offering, Amidst the Ruins, is an epic voyage set to rekindle the fires of heritage and resurrect the valor that courses through Scotland’s vast landscapes. Recorded at Fortriu Studios (vocals, guitars, bass), Nikolaus Recordings Studio (female vocals, tin whistles, low whistles, uilleann pipes), NewLife Studios (drums) and Farkosten Studios (violin, viola, cello), mixed by Chris Fielding at Penylan Studio, mastered by Tony Lindgren at Fascination Street Studios, displaying a beautiful artwork by Julian Bauer (with layout by Adrien Bousson), and featuring guest musicians Ella Zlotos, Carlos Vivas, Jo Quail, Àngela Moya Serrat, Miguel Izquierdo, and Samuel C. Ledesma, Amidst the Ruins stands proud, a timeless sentinel amidst the sands of time carefully brought into being by the project’s mastermind Andy Marshall, offering a stunning onrush of his “Caledonian Metal” perfect for fans of Winterfylleth, Agalloch, and Wolves in the Throne Room, among many others.
Andy and his more-than-special guests waste no time and melt our faces with 12 minutes of beautiful and atmospheric passages in Amidst the Ruins, led by the pulverizing drums by Carlos while Andy fires razor-edged riffs, not to mention how all background instruments like the whistles, violin, viola and cello sound utterly embracing. Echoes of the Ancient Land already begins in full force with Andy gnarling like a beast accompanied by the massive beats by Carlos, offering our avid years another very detailed and embracing musical experience; and by now you’ve probably noticed Andy nurtures a deep passion for long and complex songs, which is also the case with Glen of Sorrow, where the charming vocals by Ella bring a touch of finesse to the hurricane of Atmospheric Black Metal crafted by the whole crew. Then after such an imposing tune it’s time for the folk-infused, atmospheric The Sylvan Embrace, with guest Jo Quail embellishing the airwaves with her cello, followed by the closing song Rebirth, the perfect fusion of Atmospheric Black Metal with classic folk sounds where Ella is once again spot-on with her whimsical whistles while Andy continues to blast his harsh vociferations and melodic yet scorching riffs, all spiced up by the hypnotizing strings by Àngela, Miguel and Samuel.
Building upon the chronicles of old, Amidst the Ruins sees the warriors of SAOR cast a clarion call to awaken from the lethargy of modern existence, to reclaim the essence of a heritage laid asunder. Hence, if you want to join such an amazing army hailing from the Scottish Highlands, you can find them on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Spotify, and of course purchase a copy of the stylish Amidst the Ruins from Bandcamp or by clicking HERE. Andy and his band of Caledonian warriors have crafted a majestic symphony that welds the intensity of Black Metal with Celtic folk melodies in their new album, bridging the past and present as they remain the ceaseless bards of Caledonia unbroken.
Best moments of the album:Amidst the Ruins and Rebirth.
Worst moments of the album: None.
Released in 2025 Season of Mist
Track listing 1. Amidst the Ruins 12:41 2. Echoes of the Ancient Land 11:41
3. Glen of Sorrow 12:05
4. The Sylvan Embrace 8:19
5. Rebirth 14:10
Band members Andy Marshall – vocals, guitars, bass
Guest musicians
Ella Zlotos – female vocals, tin whistles, low whistles, uilleann pipes
Carlos Vivas – drums
Jo Quail – cello and FX on “The Sylvan Embrace”
Àngela Moya Serrat – violin on “Amidst the Ruins”, “Echoes of the Ancient Land” and “Rebirth”
Miguel Izquierdo – viola on “Amidst the Ruins”, “Echoes of the Ancient Land” and “Rebirth”
Samuel C. Ledesma – cello on “Amidst the Ruins”, “Echoes of the Ancient Land” and “Rebirth”
A modern, visceral and compelling album by the Arabian black scorpions of Thrash Metal.
The story I’m about to tell you is not only inspiring, but also shows the strong and positive influence music can have on any of us, helping us face our deepest fears and overcome the hardest challenges in our path. Acrassicauda (or أكراسكودا in Arabic), the latin name of a black scorpion species known as the Arabian fat-tailed scorpion (Androctonus crassicauda), is also the name of an incredible Iraqi Thrash Metal band formed in 2000, made famous by the award-winning documentary Heavy Metal in Baghdad and often credited as being the first Heavy Metal group to emerge from Iraq, who unfortunately had to undergo all the agonies and pain of witnessing their homeland being devastated by politics and war.
After being granted refugee status in the United States in 2009 and after releasing a couple of demos and one EP, the band now based in New York brings forth their first full-length album, the unique Gilgamesh, a tribute to the ancient Mesopotamian civilization using the Epic of Gilgamesh, an ancient poem written in the Acadian language in the 3rd millennium BC, originally inscribed on 12 tablets in cuneiform script. With a fascinating theme like that turned into solid and heartfelt music by skillful musicians, you’ll rapidly be absorbed by the story told in Gilgamesh, going back to the start once the album is over and listening to it in its entirety again and again.
Right after the ominous and introspective intro Cedar Forest, where hints of the Middle-Eastern culture are already present, we are offered a blasting mix of modern heavy music and uprising Thrash Metal entitled Rise: the harsh vocals by frontman Faisal Mustafa have the necessary fierceness to transmit the desired message (and you’ll be tempted to scream the chorus together with him and the rest of the band), while guitarist Moe Al Hamawandi helps shape the band’s soul with his riffs and solos. In the potent and very progressive Quest for Eternity, thanks to the job done by Marwan Hussein on drums, they continue their journey through Middle-East by perfectly adding elements of their own culture to the music just like Sepultura did in Chaos A.D. and especially in Roots, while Amongst Kings and Men has a more modern sonority with great vocal lines and a progressive rhythm. In addition, its clean and backing vocals are also amazing and make the whole song even more powerful.
Shamhat, the name of a sacred prostitute who plays an important role on the Epic of Gilgamesh, is a sharp and rumbling intro that flows nicely into the following track, the superb multi-layered clash The Cost of Everything & the Value of Nothing, a groovy and metallic tune with an outstanding percussion, a strong message and a violent atmosphere. The entire band is kicking ass, with highlights to Faisal and Marwan who are truly electrified and end up elevating the inner beauty of this song. Nonetheless, as even warriors have love in their hearts, Acrassicauda provide the listener an awe-inspiring and touching ballad named Requiem for a Reverie, where its thoughtful lyrics and a passionate performance by Faisal turn it into one of the best moments of the whole album. Their special Middle-Eastern touch is used once again to add rage and balance to House of Dust, a Thrash Metal song that feels really fresh and modern due to the welcome addition of clean vocals, with highlights to its lyrics, which in my opinion should work perfectly when played live (“As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I take my last oath / As I take my first step in your house of dust I should have known from the start / Where will it all ends? / Right here right now / Where it began / What went wrong? / And what have we done”).
I can see the fans jumping up and down to the thrilling Unity, which direct and impetuous instrumental together with some eerie passages make the final result truly interesting, followed by Elements, where the band keeps delivering high-end metal embraced by their country’s culture. Needless to say, Moe and Marwan effectively take this song to the next level so good their performances are. Uruk, an ancient city of Sumer and later Babylonia ruled by Gilgamesh in the 27th century BC, is the second instrumental track of the album, where Acrassicauda showcase their well-developed skills as Iraqi musicians one more time, enhancing your senses for the last track of the album, the startling Rebirth, a song about revolution and the fight for freedom. With its Terminator-inspired riffs and Slayer-ish vibe (especially the one found in the all-time classic “Seasons in the Abyss”), it’s absolutely impossible not to bang you fuckin’ head to it, just before everything converges to a melancholic ending.
According to the band, Gilgamesh is an ode to modern Iraq, a home from which they are sadly exiled today. As bitter as it may sound, darkness seems to be a necessary evil in the conceptualization of superior music, and if you want to come into contact with that intense synthesis of passion and sorrow you can visit Acrassicauda’s Facebook, BandCamp page and YouTube channel, and also buy Gigalmesh at their official website as a digital download or physical copy. Lastly, in order to properly finish off this review, I leave you with drummer Marwan Hussein’s own words about what Gilgamesh represents to the band and, inevitably, to everyone else that might have the pleasure of listening to it.
“The whole album’s concept is about journeys, life and death, love, the divine, success and failure, and the eternal struggle for immortality. Acrassicauda immortalizes the legacy of this character and his struggles through music, thousands of years later…” – Marwan Hussein
Best moments of the album:Rise, The Cost of Everything & the Value of Nothing, Requiem for a Reverie and Rebirth.
Worst moments of the album: Absolutely none. The whole album kicks ass.
Released in 2015 Independent
Track listing 1. Cedar Forest 1:29
2. Rise 5:04
3. Quest for Eternity 3:47
4. Amongst Kings and Men 5:11
5. Shamhat 0:25
6. The Cost of Everything & the Value of Nothing 3:09
7. Requiem for a Reverie 4:04
8. House of Dust 4:06
9. Unity 4:01
10. Elements 2:56
11. Uruk 2:02
12. Rebirth 4:32
Band members Faisal Mustafa – vocals
Moe Al Hamawandi – guitar
Firas Abdul Razaq – bass
Marwan Hussein – drums
A horde of old school Death Metal heads who worship the brutal god of the rotten, Kassel, Hesse, Germany-based entity Reanimated was formed in the beginning of 2022 from the ruins of different old Death Metal cults to spread mischief and showcase their passion and devotion for extreme music. Currently formed of vocalist Mike (from Melodic Death/Black Metal horde Dark Horizon, who released in 2024 the excellent album Darkness Falls Upon Mankind), guitarists Alex and Jörg, bassist Benni, and drummer Andre, Reanimated are ready to attack armed with their debut offering, a five-track EP entitled Vomit The Plague, celebrating carnage and domination just the way we like it in classic Death Metal.
The ruthless horde known as Reanimator is waiting for you on Facebook, on Instagram and on YouTube with news, tour dates, and more of their music, and of course in order to show them your total support and admiration you can grab a copy of Vomit The Plague from BandCamp, as well as stream it in full as many times as you want on Spotify. Now that Reanimated have finally left their obscure lair to spread evil across the world, I don’t think it will take too long for the band to unleash upon us their first ever full-length album, and if there’s one thing that can be said about that is that if they follow a similar pattern as the destructive music found in Vomit The Plague, it will be total chaos, violence and blood, always in the name of our beloved Death Metal.
THE HEADBANGING MOOSE 